Looking After Yourself

Looking after your psychological well-being is a really important part of staying strong for your kids, and planning enjoyable and fun times for yourself is critical. Spending time with friends is a great way to relax, to forget some of life’s daily niggles, and to have adult conversations which don’t revolve around the kids or the chores! You could plan to invite one or two friends round for a meal that you all contribute a course to, or, if you can arrange a night out, then a night down the bingo hall can be a great way to unwind. Even if you’ve got things to attend to at home a quick session on a site like Jackpotjoy can offer a ready-made community of friends to tap into, people to catch up with in the chatrooms, and the fun of learning all the lingo.

Reclaiming some time for you isn’t an unnecessary self-indulgence. “Me time” is actually important for the welfare of your family. And, of course, it’s not easy to carve out some time and space for yourself from a hectic schedule of school runs, shopping, cooking and fitting in other work. Evenings are likely to be your best opportunity, when you have put the kids to bed, the chores are done, and all is quiet. (You hope) The down side? That by the end of the day you may well feel that all you want to do is to crash into bed yourself! The tip is to accept that you need to relax, physically and mentally, and find the ways that work best for you.

Yoga; great for relaxation and exercise, courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Sitting down with a cup of green tea, which contains valuable antioxidants and also just helps to clear your head, can be a first step. Then if you are looking to build your fitness or lose weight, look at some gentler forms of exercise like Yoga or Pilates. (It’s unlikely that you will feel like exercising to a high-adrenaline disco-music DVD at this point in the evening!) Yoga can help you improve your mental sharpness, your physical flexibility and balance. If you are a beginner, you’ll need to explore which of the many forms of Yoga suits you best, and plan to put regular time aside for practice. Planning in “you time” every week, you’ll soon start to feel the benefits of feeling fitter and more relaxed.